How Many Blockchains Are There, and What Are the Different Types?

The Web3 area is huge, and it’s rising greater and greater every single day. And never solely are we seeing new decentralized functions (dapps) pop up ceaselessly, however new blockchains repeatedly emerge as nicely. So, what number of blockchains are there? And what are the various kinds of blockchains? Be part of us on this article as we handle each of those queries to supply readability into the ever-expanding panorama of Web3!  

Overview

We’ll kickstart right now’s article by answering the query: ”What number of blockchains are there?”. From there, we’ll dive straight into the various kinds of blockchains. In doing so, we’ll discover what they’re, why they exist, and canopy some distinguished examples for every kind. Subsequent, we’ll additionally discover various kinds of blockchains for builders. To associate with that, we’ll high issues off by introducing you to the best strategy to construct blockchain functions: Moralis’ industry-leading Web3 API suite! 

Moralis’ Web3 APIs are the final word instruments for those who’d wish to get into blockchain app improvement. With our industry-leading interfaces, you possibly can construct every part from block explorers to NFT video games very quickly. 

Additionally, do you know which you can join with Moralis at no cost? It solely takes a few clicks, and also you’ll acquire instant entry to all our premier Web3 improvement instruments so you possibly can construct dapps each quicker and smarter! 

How Many Blockchains Are There? 

There’s a large number of blockchain networks in existence, and a few distinguished examples embody Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and many others. Moreover, the blockchain area is repeatedly rising as quite a few organizations and initiatives develop their very own chains to handle particular wants.

With that mentioned, what number of blockchains are there?

Because of the ever-growing state of the Web3 area, the precise depend of blockchains is difficult to pinpoint. Nonetheless, estimates recommend that the variety of present blockchains is no less than 1,000! 

What Are the Completely different Sorts of Blockchains? 

There are 4 foremost kinds of blockchain networks, together with public blockchains, non-public blockchains, hybrid blockchains, and consortium blockchains. Every kind has distinctive advantages, drawbacks, and ideally suited use circumstances. As such, let’s briefly discover them one after the other, beginning with public blockchains:

Public Blockchains: Public blockchains are permissionless, which means they’re absolutely decentralized and open for anybody to take part. A lot of these networks are mostly used for exchanging and mining cryptocurrency.Personal Blockchains: Personal blockchains are permissioned, which means that just a few choose folks can take part within the community. These networks are sometimes managed by a company or an organization, which determines who’s granted entry to learn and write privileges.Hybrid Blockchains: Hybrid blockchains are networks that mix options of each private and non-private chains. These networks are managed by single entities. Nonetheless, they will determine who has entry to particular knowledge saved on the community and what data will probably be open to the general public. Consortium Blockchains: Consortium blockchains are fairly much like hybrid blockchains. Nonetheless, in contrast to hybrid blockchains with one controlling entity, consortium blockchains are designed by a bunch that wishes to make use of the community for collaborative efforts. Customers outdoors of the consortium/group typically can’t get entry to the blockchain community. 

What Objective Does the Completely different Sorts of Blockchains Serve? 

The various kinds of blockchains have their very own units of distinctive benefits and downsides. On this part, we’ll look nearer at what goal public blockchains, non-public blockchains, hybrid blockchains, and consortium blockchains serve.

Public Blockchains: Public blockchain networks have many advantages. Some examples embody being utterly clear, absolutely decentralized, pseudonymous, and open to the general public. These benefits make them ideally suited to be used circumstances akin to exchanging cryptocurrencies and organizations constructed on transparency and belief. Personal Blockchains: Personal blockchain networks excel in the case of privateness, safety, velocity, and scalability. These advantages make non-public blockchains good to be used circumstances akin to provide chain administration, asset possession, inner voting, and many others. In these situations, it’s helpful for the community to be cryptographically secured, however the controlling entity desires the data to be saved non-public. 

Hybrid Blockchains: Hybrid blockchains can present closed ecosystems, excessive flexibility, privateness with communication, and higher scalability. These constructive traits make hybrid chains ideally suited to be used circumstances the place some, however not all, knowledge must be shared with customers. As an example, medical data could be saved on a hybrid blockchain, the place solely customers can entry their very own knowledge by way of good contracts. Consortium Blockchains: Consortium blockchains even have a number of benefits, together with excessive safety, management, and the potential for no transaction charges. These advantages make consortium blockchains nice to be used circumstances akin to banking, funds, and provide chain administration. As an example, two banks can come collectively and type a consortium to make funds extra environment friendly. 

Completely different Sorts of Blockchain Examples 

Now, with an summary of the varied various kinds of blockchains, let’s take this part to discover some examples for every. And to kick issues off, we’ll begin with public blockchain networks! 

Public Blockchain Instance 

Public blockchains are essentially the most well-known networks. And until you have got been dwelling beneath a rock for the previous few years, odds are you’ve heard of no less than one. The 2 most vital examples are Bitcoin and Ethereum:

Bitcoin: The Bitcoin blockchain is a proof-of-work-based (PoW) distributed public ledger that launched in 2009. The blockchain hosts the BTC cryptocurrency and is liable for sustaining the historical past of each transaction on the community. Furthermore, because the Bitcoin blockchain is public, anybody can take part and fetch a duplicate of the community to trace each switch since its origins. Ethereum: Ethereum is a public proof-of-stake (PoS) ledger, and it’s a scalable, programmable, and safe community. With Ethereum being programmable, it’s the blockchain of alternative for a lot of builders and enterprises seeking to create decentralized functions (dapps). Ethereum additionally has its personal native token known as ether (ETH), which is used to pay for fuel charges on the community. 

Personal Blockchain Instance 

Personal chains are – because the title signifies – non-public. Consequently, particular person networks aren’t all that fascinating since they are often comparatively area of interest. As such, as a substitute of exploring a selected non-public blockchain instance, let’s briefly dive into Hyperledger Material – an open-source non-public blockchain framework.  

Hyperledger Material is an open-source blockchain framework created by the Linux Basis. And organizations use the framework to construct permissioned and personal blockchain networks. Furthermore, Hyperledger Material gives distinctive identification administration and entry management options, making it ideally suited for numerous {industry} functions, together with provide chain administration, finance, loyalty and reward methods, and many others. As such, this framework is often utilized in enterprise settings. 

Hybrid Blockchain Instance 

Hybrid chains mix each private and non-private blockchain options, and a terrific instance is IBM Meals Belief – a number one initiative using a hybrid blockchain resolution to reinforce transparency and traceability in provide chains. 

IBM Meals Belief’s non-public blockchain gives a permissioned setting for provide chain individuals to distribute delicate data whereas concurrently sustaining privateness. In brief, it ensures that solely trusted entities acquire entry to confidential data. 

Consortium Blockchain Instance 

As with the opposite blockchain sorts, there are additionally many alternative consortium blockchain networks. Nonetheless, to offer you an instance, we’ll briefly discover R3 Corda – a blockchain community specifically designed for monetary providers. 

R3 Corda is an open-source blockchain undertaking launched in 2016 by a consortium of banks, know-how firms, and monetary establishments. The undertaking was constructed on interoperability, safety, and privateness ideas. And it permits for safe and environment friendly exchanges of information between events.

Completely different Sorts of Blockchains for Builders 

There are additionally a number of kinds of blockchains for builders, and they are often categorized in a number of other ways. Nonetheless, a well-liked strategy to divide them is to categorise them as both EVM (Ethereum Digital Machine) or non-EVM chains. 

So, what’s the distinction between them? 

EVM Chains: EVM-compatible chains can run and execute Ethereum good contracts. Consequently, builders can write and deploy the identical good contracts throughout a number of EVM blockchain networks with out making any important modifications to the code. Some examples of EVM chains embody Ethereum, BNB Sensible Chain (BSC), Polygon, and many others. Non-EVM Chains: Non-EVM chains, however, are all different networks that aren’t EVM-compatible. Some distinguished examples of non-EVM chains embody Solana, Polkadot, Cardano, and so forth.

One other strategy to classify each EVM and non-EVM chains is to divide them into layer-1 (L1) or layer-2 (L2) networks:  

L1 Chains: Layer-1 blockchains seek advice from base networks, and a few examples embody Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, BSC, and many others.  L2 Chains: Layer-2 blockchains are community protocols layered on high of an L1 resolution. An L2 protocol sometimes leverages the safety infrastructure of the L1 community however is extra versatile in its means to scale transaction processing and general throughput. Examples of L2 blockchains embody Polygon, Base, Polygon zkEVM, Optimism, Arbitrum, and many others. 

Nonetheless, that covers some various kinds of blockchains for builders. From right here, we’ll introduce you to Moralis – the best strategy to construct dapps on any blockchain community!

Exploring Moralis: Best Technique to Construct On Completely different Sorts of Blockchains 

The simplest manner for builders to construct on a number of various kinds of blockchains is to leverage Moralis. Moralis is an industry-leading API and blockchain infrastructure supplier, and with our interfaces, you possibly can effortlessly construct dapps throughout a number of blockchain networks. Moreover, Moralis’ Web3 APIs presently energy blockchain initiatives for hundreds of thousands of finish customers worldwide! 

However why must you leverage our APIs particularly? 

To reply the query above, let’s discover three advantages of working with Moralis: 

Scalability: All our APIs are constructed to scale. Consequently, as your initiatives expertise elevated adoption, you by no means have to fret concerning the efficiency of your dapps. Prime Efficiency: Moralis’ Web3 APIs are industry-leading. Whether or not you prioritize velocity, reliability, or every other metric, our APIs persistently blow the competitors out of the water. Cross-Chain Compatability: Our APIs are chain agnostic, which means you possibly can construct cross-chain suitable dapps on a number of networks with ease. Some distinguished examples of supported chains embody Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Solana, Gnosis, Arbitrum, and plenty of others. 

In the event you’d wish to discover our whole suite of premier interfaces, take a look at the Web3 API web page! 

Additionally, together with the Web3 APIs, Moralis has much more to supply. As an example, with our crypto taps web page, yow will discover taps for all main testnets. If you wish to study extra about this, you possibly can, for instance, take a look at our ”What’s a Goerli Faucet?” information and discover ways to get Goerli faucet funds in a heartbeat! 

Abstract: How Many Blockchains Are There, and What Are the Completely different Varieties? 

In right now’s article, we kicked issues off by answering the query, ”What number of blockchains are there?”. In doing so, we discovered that the area repeatedly grows at a fast price, making it laborious to pinpoint precisely what number of networks there are. Nonetheless, estimations recommend that there are no less than 1,000 blockchains! 

From there, we additionally explored various kinds of blockchains. In doing so, we discovered that there are 4 foremost classes: 

Public ChainsPrivate ChainsHybrid ChainsConsortium Chains

We additionally explored totally different use circumstances and coated some examples of every blockchain kind, the place we discovered that all of them have their benefits and downsides. Subsequent, we dove a bit deeper into various kinds of blockchains for builders, the place we coated EVM vs non-EVM chains and L1 vs L2 networks.

To high issues off, we launched you to Moralis and our industry-leading suite of Web3 APIs. In doing so, we discovered that they provide unparalleled scalability, high efficiency, and cross-chain compatibility. As such, if you wish to construct dapps your self, don’t neglect to enroll with Moralis instantly. You possibly can create an account freed from cost, and also you’ll acquire instant entry to all our premier interfaces so you possibly can construct dapps with out breaking a sweat! 

Additionally, for those who appreciated this blockchain information, think about testing extra content material right here on our Web3 weblog. As an example, examine ethers.js, study the ins and outs of Web3 Python, or discover the intricacies of the blockchain tech stack! Lastly, for those who’d wish to discover the various kinds of blockchains, maybe see them in a “record view”, make certain to take a look at our Web3 Wiki! Moralis’ Web3 Wiki is the perfect place to discover blockchain networks, NFT instruments, platforms, DeFi dapps, and many others! For a quick introduction to our Web3 Wiki, learn our “Dapp Retailer” article!